GALVESTON, Texas – Two men were arrested and two others were on their way to jail in connection with a kidnapping and rape that unfolded during Mardi Gras festivities on Galveston Island, Local 2 Investigates reports.
A 23-year-old woman reported to police that she was forced into the car by three men she had met earlier in the evening on The Strand in Galveston.
Officers who are working the case told Local 2 Investigates that the woman reported she had been drinking and partying with the three men earlier in the evening, but then she had left to go home around 1 a.m. on Sunday.
As she was trying to find her car, police officers said she was approached by the three men she had met earlier and they offered to help her. The men tried to assure her by saying they had trouble locating their own car, so they could take her wherever she needed to go.
Police said she was then forced into the car by the three men and given something to drink. That drink caused her to black out, according to investigating officers, and the victim reported she woke up naked in an apartment hours later.
The men then drove her and dropped her off at a spot near Baybrook Mall, according to police in Friendswood and Webster.
She was taken to UTMB Hospital in Galveston, where one officer involved with the case said evidence was gathered with a rape kit forensic exam.
The victim then described for officers where the apartment was, and that led officers to the Enclave at Quail Crossing Apartments on Watkins Way in Friendswood, where Galveston police said they arrested 20-year-old Aaron L. Brown on a charge of aggravated kidnapping.
Police later arrested Darel Johnson, 18.
Aaron Brown (left) and Darel Johnson
They issued warrants for two other men, and took Greg Hill, 19, and Daniel Rogers, Jr., 19, into custody both on charges of aggravated kidnapping. They were on their way to the Galveston Police Department Tuesday night.
Gregory Hill (left) and Daniel Rogers
Apartment personnel declined to comment and ordered a news crew off the property.
Officers obtained a search warrant to gather evidence at the apartment, and police cars were seen entering the apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon.
One officer involved with the case said the victim was an out-of-town visitor to Mardi Gras, but that officer was not familiar with where she lived.